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What is negotiated today in a conference room in Bern affects some 2.2 million households. The majority of Swiss live in rented apartments. You are concerned about issues that concern the National Council Legal Commission. On the program, several shops for renting. Five of them are parliamentary initiatives that would cancel existing laws if they were to be adopted. At the center is the question of how much rent can be raised. And in what cases tenants can dispute it.
Today, rent is considered unreasonable if the owner gives up more than 0.5% above the reference rate. The FDP National Council, Olivier Feller, calls in his initiative for this surtax to be raised to 2%. In the future, a return of 3.5% would be allowed because the reference interest rate is currently 1.5%. Exceptions apply if the rent matches the standard local or neighborhood level or if the owner has renovated the apartment. Is it after Hans Egloff, vice president of the National Council and president of Homeowners Association (HEV), that it will be easier in the future to prove the local custom? and the neighborhood. And if the two initiatives of the FDP National Council Philippe Nantermod materialize, tenants are only allowed to challenge the interest that in case of housing shortage in their area. Carlo Sommaruga, National Councilor SP and President of the Swiss Tenant Association, opposes the impulses: he asks that the initial capital rates be in any case disputed
Litigation on initial rents [19659004] The owner's lobby justifies its initiatives by the situation on the housing market. Rising vacancy rates have improved the situation for many tenants. In addition, the current rules are too complicated, they want to simplify. The tenants' lobby, however, is dismayed. The tenant association speaks of a "dismantling of the rights of the central tenant". With advances, tenants "have barely the opportunity to demand the lowering of excessive rent."
And they do it more and more often. This is what the data show from the Federal Housing Office. It studies the number of disputes over rental rates that reach the mediation authorities. Overall, the number of these disputes has declined over the past decade. However, the conflicts were much more frequent because of the initial rents.
In 2017, the mediation authorities handled 951 cases in which the initial duration was contested. In 2008, it was only 526 – the number has almost doubled in ten years. Conflicts over rent reductions have also increased significantly. In 2008, there were 385, last year already 2766, seven times more. The reference interest rate, on which the rents are based, is responsible for this. It went from 3.5 to 1.5% over the same period. Tenants may request a reduction in each case of an adjustment of their interest, if the owner does not do it by himself
The question that arises is why the initial rents compete much more often. According to the president of the tenants' association, Carlo Sommaruga, it is because the situation on the housing market is still tense, especially in cities and agglomerations. "The smaller the supply of apartments, the more abusive the prices." In the canton of Zurich, the requirement of form also plays a role: Tenants have since 2013 the right to know how much their predecessor has paid.
increases, their share remains very small. According to the Tenant Association, there are between 220,000 and 300,000 residence changes each year in Switzerland. Nevertheless, it is important that the possibility of contestation remains, says Carlo Sommaruga. "This also has a preventive effect and prevents the owners from demanding too much."
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The regional arbitration authorities manage to resolve a much of the conflict. When it was necessary to dispute the initial payment, 65% of the cases ended last year with an agreement. In the rent reduction, it was even 82%. If the agreements favor the tenants or the owners, can not say. Ernst Jost points out that it is already not easy for tenants to be right in a contest. He is head of the Conciliation Office for rental disputes in the canton of Basel-Stadt. If bourgeois initiatives were accepted by parliament, it would be even more difficult in the future, according to Jost. "Initiatives are a restriction on tenants' rights, which I do not appreciate."
There is no reduction in tenants' rights, says HEV President Egloff. "But I do not see why there should be the same challenges in communities with a lot of empty apartments as in those with a housing shortage." In addition, no conclusions could be drawn from the statistics of the arbitration authorities. The legal framework has changed in recent years. Egloff refers to a Federal Court judgment, which caused a lot of excitement. The court ruled in 2016 that it was enough to dispute the initial rent in case of housing shortage. However, the number of these cases increased before 2016 and remained relatively constant thereafter.
(Tages-Anzeiger)
created: 05.07.2018, 22:05
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